"Baroness Catherine D'Erlanger was a great friend of Tony Duquette and they both influenced each other's taste tremendously. The Old Baroness, as Tony used to call her, had plenty of money and mountains of treasure to work with. She was also quite eccentric and often believed she was one step out from the poor house. "If you got her on a poor day", Tony would say, "you could buy the most amazing treasures from her for almost nothing!". It was from the Baroness that Tony purchased some of his best antiques and paintings, all of which she had brought to Hollywood from Europe during WWII. Here she has draped a doorway with strings of chandelier crystals with another fringe of crystals sparkling over the window, which are draped in a shimmering lamé. Influenced by Tony's work, the Baroness would spend hours making découpages panels by cutting up valuable eighteenth-century prints. When Tony telephoned one day to ask how the Baroness was doing, her friend and companion said she was "at her destruction" because she was in the process of "Duquetteizing" her creations by gluing rhinestones all over them.

She would wear her diamond tiara in the garden of her Hollywood home - where she had lined her swimming pool with green glass bottles, "like emeralds", she would say - in any vulgar situation."

23 December, 2009

For it's 5th interview Scala Regia went to talk with Miles Redd. Appart from his posh and somehow oniric understanding of fashion, Miles is one of the greatest young interior designers in the USA. To be chic always depends on a mental predisposition to elegance and taste and Miles's got it. Creative Director of Oscar de la Renta Home and primo inter pares in his activity, Miles certainly is a style maker and he carries with him the kind of aesthetic background that people who visits Scala Regia adore.

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From Beistegui to Lagerfeld, Le Goût Redd is absolutely irreprehensible. Take a look:

Tell me about your professional occupations and routines.

It is really very simple,I am a decorator and the creative director of Oscar de la Renta Home. I have private clients whose homes I decorate, and then I oversee the design of the home products we make for Mr. de la Renta, which includes furniture, fabrics, and rugs.

In a few words how would you define beautiful?

Anything that makes my heart race.

How did first started your interest on decoration and design?

Ever since I was a little boy I have loved looking at house. My mother and I would drive around for hours looking at architecture. I suppose it is something you are born with.

Who and what most influenciates you?

Seated Woman by Rene Gruau

I am greatly influenced by the fading world of glamour- the couture salons of the 1950’s, the illustrations of Rene Gruau, the photographs of Richard Avedon- that bygone world has always been my springboard.

Which are your favourite decoration works in the world?

Hubert de Givenchy's Hôtel d'Orrouer in Paris

Tony Duquette. 1940

There are so many it is difficult, but I would start with the great country houses of England, the hôtels particuliers of Paris, Versailles and all the small houses surrounding it, the houses of David Adler, The World of Interiors, The interiors of Cedric Gibbons, Maison Jansen, Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler, Tony Duquette, William Kent…to name a few.

Besides Miles Redd, name some -even historic- decorators that you really appreciate.

Charles de Beistegui

Charles de Bestegui, Emilio Terry, Jean-Michael Frank, Albert Hadley, David Hicks, Renzo Mongiardino, Madeleine Castaing, Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, Annette and Oscar de la Renta, again just to name just a few.

Where do you live?

Miles's Apartment. NYC

New York City

I imagine your house is your most important style-lab...

Work by Miles Redd

Most definitely, the birth of Zebra doors and mirrored glass countertops

What is your most treasured belong?

I have a large drawing of a panther given to me by a friend that I adore because it reminds me of her.

To other kind of place would you like to move?

A place in the sun.

A total must-have in decoration?

Work by Miles Redd

A wonderful bathroom.

How do you describe the Miles Redd's Style?

Work by Miles Redd

A sense of fantasy, a sense of history and permanence,and I hope a sense of joy and happiness.

Do you think a house have to fit his owner? give me examples...

Charles de Beistegui library at Groussay by Cecil Beaton

Not at all, some of the dowdiest people live in the greatest houses in the World, but I suppose that is because they inherited them. It does take great style to bring a house to life, and the houses that come to mind are the Chateau de Groussay, le petit Trianon at Versailles, and Chatsworth.

What is lifestyle?

How one lives - how you go about your life. The way you begin your day, what you eat, how you sleep, and who you spend your time with…

Who are nowadays the most stylish people in the world and why.

I suppose it is the people who care about such things, but I always think the really stylish ones seem like they are not trying at all. It is just who they are, and they are generally very beautiful and very rich.

What is Chic?

Dovima with the Elephants. Photo by Richard Avedon

A certain graphic line- Dovima with elephants come to mind.

What is not?

Deliberate cruelty, insecurity, fear, and lack of discipline.

What is your present fashion statu?

I need a new look. I am thinking early YSL.

What importance do you attribute to fashion?

It is instantaneous and always moving forward.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Food

How to be Posh?It does take a certain rigor and lots of help. One must have charm, and let’s face it: money helps. Charm allied with riches and position is fairly irresistible.

What can you tell about your personality?

I love to work, and prefer quiet nights with a small group of friends rather than big parties.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

I can be a bit tongue-tied around people I adore, and ugliness depresses me - which seems rather superficial. I am working on it.How do you look at your future?

With optimism and joy

What is your motto?Do you know what happened to the man who got everything he ever wanted? He lived happily ever after.